Choosing healthy foods when stressed can affect mood in a positive way, helping to relieve tension, stabilize blood sugars and eliminate stress
Among the best foods for stress are dark leafy vegetables, turkey breast, wild Alaskan salmon, fermented foods, blueberries and more
By Dr. Mercola
Nearly 40% of Americans report overeating or eating unhealthy foods as a reaction to stress. It may be tempting to drown your anxiety in a sundae or calm your nerves with a bag of potato chips, but eating junk food while stressed can be especially dangerous to your health.
In a group of chronically stressed women (those caring for a partner or parent with dementia), consuming foods high in unhealthy fats and sugars was found to lead to troubling health effects, including: period more pronounced waist, high concentration of abdominal fat, oxidation damage and increased insulin resistance.
In this case, food wasn't the only problem. It was the combination of junk food and stress that was dangerous, as women with low stress levels who ate similar foods did not experience such profound changes over the course of the study.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Kirstin Aschbacher, a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry, said:
"Many people think a calorie is a calorie, but this study suggests that women who eat the same things may have different metabolic responses based on their stress levels.
There seems to be a stress pathway that works through diet; for example, there may be similarities to what is observed in animals, namely, that fat cells grow faster in response to junk food when the body is subjected to chronic stress. "
At the same time, junk food will only give the body momentary relief. After the initial pleasure, a person will face mood swings, irritability, and other unpleasant emotions in addition to stress, all due to sugars, unsaturated fats, artificial colors, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and any other synthetic ingredients that have been consumed.
On the other hand, by choosing healthy foods it is possible to act on mood in a positive way, helping to relieve tension, stabilize blood sugars and eliminate stress.
The 10 best foods to eat for stress
Have you had a long day at the office? Have the kids been having tantrums all day? Do you have financial or partner problems? Grab a fork and drown your sorrows in these amazing stress relieving foods.
1. Green Leafy Vegetables - Dark leafy vegetables, such as spinach, are rich in folic acid, which helps the body make mood-regulating neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine. A 2012 study found that people who consume more folic acid are less prone to depression than those who consume less.
Not to mention research from the University of Otago that found that eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables (except juices and nuts) helped teenagers calm their nervousness. Dr Tamlin Conner, a researcher in the psychology department, said:
"On days when more fruit and vegetables were consumed, people claimed to feel calmer, happier and more energetic than normal."
2. Organic Turkey Breast - Turkey is an excellent source of tryptophan, an amino acid (building block of protein) that the body converts into serotonin. Some research shows that contentious people who consume tryptophan become much more affable; the researchers noted that:
"Tryptophan significantly decreases argumentative behaviors and encourages collaborative behaviors and the perception of pleasantness."
Pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts and organic eggs from free-range hens are also rich sources of tryptophan.
3. Fermented foods - The secret to improving mental health lies in the gut, as unhealthy bacterial flora can negatively impact brain health, leading to anxiety and depression. Beneficial bacteria have a direct impact on brain chemistry by transmitting signals to the brain via the vagus nerve that regulate mood and behavior.